The world of professional wrestling was deeply saddened with the passing last week of the legendary Blackjack Mulligan at the age of 73. Mulligan had suffered a heart attack in 2015 and had been very ill for some time leading up to his death.
Blackjack Mulligan had quite a career as a professional wrestler. He was originally trained by Verne Gagne and wrestled in the AWA territory in the late 60’s. Having his finishing move being the iron claw, he found his way into the WWWF where he had memorable matches as an early challenger for then WWWF champion Pedro Morales in 1971. He was enjoying success as a top villain but his push was cut short at the Boston Garden when a fan slashed Blackjack’s leg that required hundreds of stitches to close.
While he was recovering from the leg slash, he met Bruno Sammartino at Madison Square Garden in the main event of a sold out show. Due to the slash, Mulligan was in no condition to work an actual match and lost in 64 seconds. It was Bruno’s first match back since losing the title after an 8 year run. Even though it was only 64 seconds long, Mulligan succeeded in making Bruno look strong which was his job for the night.
After he was fully recovered, he left the WWWF and found himself in the World Wrestling Association based in Indianapolis. It was here that he formed the legendary team The Blackjacks with Blackjack Lanza in 1973. They became one of the hottest tag teams in wrestling and won multiple tag team titles. They had a brief run in the WWWF in 1973 that saw them take on a number of top teams in the territory.
Mulligan, who decided he wanted to be on his own, spent 1 year in Texas thrilling crowds with his style of professional wrestling in 1974. He was successful in winning a number of championships while in Texas which included the Texas International Heavyweight Title.
Mulligan was back with Lanza wreaking havoc on tag team opponents as they returned to the WWWF in 1975. They became the hottest team in the WWWF and won their first and only WWWF tag team titles as the defeated the team of Domenic DeNucci and Pat Barrett for the straps. They held the belts for a few months before dropping them to the popular team of Louis Cerdan and Tony Parisi.
After the title loss, Blackjack Mulligan reached legendary status while working for Mid Atlantic Championship Wrestling. It was here that became a singles superstar as he feuded with many of the top draws of the territory such as Tim Woods and Rufus R Jones. One significant feud during this time was Blackjack Mulligan vs. Paul Jones. They would go on to trade off NWA United States Championship title reigns in a series of classic matches that generated tremendous fan interest. The feud ended when Mulligan defeated Paul Jones in December 1976 to win the title for the 3rd time.
Mulligan held the title for a few months before dropping it to Bobo Brazil. Despite losing the title, he remained one the top heels in the Mid Atlantic area. He would go on to win the US title a 4th time by defeating the Ricky Steamboat in 1978.
Being a heel for his entire career up until this point Mulligan turned babyface for the first time as he feuded with Ric Flair, who had become the # 1 heel of the territory. This instantly became a sizzling hot feud. Flair would refuse to wrestle Mulligan but instead put a $10,000 bounty on his head. Mulligan had to battle a number of wrestlers who tried to collect the bounty which included Greg Valentine, The Masked Superstar, and Baron Von Raschke.
Mulligan finally got Flair in the ring for a one on one match which was billed “The match the fans have asked to see”. In what was a wild bout, Mulligan secured a victory by disqualification when The Masked Superstar interfered on Ric Flair’s behalf.
In the 80’s, Blackjack Mulligan went on to work for various territories such as Championship Wrestling from Florida, Georgia Championship Wrestling, Maple Leaf Wrestling, and the American Wrestling Association. One very notable feud for Mulligan in the early 80’s was against Andre the Giant. Due to Blackjacks’ size, he was deemed a credible opponent for Andre as they battled each other all over the United States for numerous territories. His battles with Andre were legendary and even gave him another run in the WWF as they took their feud to NYC.
After a short-lived angle with Kevin Sullivan in Florida, Mulligan would return to the WWF yet again in 1986 to be involved in another program with Andre the Giant only this time to be his tag team partner. The idea was to have Andre, Mulligan, and Bill Eadie (Masked Superstar) wear masks and call themselves – The Machines. Giant Machine, Big Machine, and Super Machine enjoyed a very well received run in the WWF as they primarily battled the Heenan Family.
Once the Machine angle ended, Mulligan wrestled as himself for the WWF before deciding yo leave in 1987. He wound down his incredible career in Texas working for WCCW battling Bruiser Brody and the Von Erichs.
On April 1st 2006, Mulligan was elected into the WWE Hall of Fame with former partner Blackjack Lanza.
Blackjack Mulligan was a true legend of professional wrestling and loved by so many fans. He experienced quite a career and huge success followed him wherever he went.
I am sure a heavenly audience has been treated to one more Andre the Giant vs. Blackjack Mulligan encounter. Rest in peace Blackjack and thank you for all the memories.
